Dress Up!

One of the weekends we stayed here in Salalah, we had a "Cultural Day" for all the girls, where we got to see what traditional dancing and dress is like here in Southern Oman. It was quite an experience -- we got to have all the pretty (over the top) make-up put on us, and dress up in these thick black velvet robes (the traditional garb at weddings).

Some observations -- make-up here is completely over the top. 2) Even when we are in a completely girls-only environment, a lot of the women still wanted their hair covered and they never showed any skin. We were definitely under the impression that once the environment was only girls, everyone would be much more open, but that was not the case (at least not at this "Cultural Day") In these pictures, you can see more of the event -- we had a show of traditional dancing, and then we all got to dance, and a big meal of traditional foods, henna and make-up.





Again, as I mentioned in previous blogs, the traditional dancing here does not require much moving at all -- it is more like gliding across a stage rather than a lot of moving...

Marriage customs are also very different -- according to the students here for about 2 months before a girl gets married, she sits in her room and just eats and doesn't go out. She is trying to gain weight for her husband. Many grooms and brides still never see each other before they marry. It is very rare that they actually know each other or meet each other before marrying.

According to the students here, when a man is ready to marry (meaning has saved enough money) he tells his mom and she goes out and does the investigating and comes back with possible brides and then describes them to her (So and so is attractive, so and so is more studious...etc) and then he chooses based on her descriptions!

Khor Rouri

The last stop on our trip to the East was called Khor Rouri -- it is an extremely old archaeological city that has ruins from an old city that used to be one of the major sites of....you guessed it! (Frankincense!) The site also has a temple, and store rooms and a port area for the boats.




If you can't read this sign about Khor Rouri, it says: "The ancient site of Sumharam (end of 4th century BC - 4th century AD), built in the area of Khor Rori, is the most important pre-Islamic settlement in the Dhofa region and is also the center of frankincense production areas. South Arabian inscriptions were carved along the monumental gate to the city. Outside the city wall, a small temple and structures contemporary to the first phase of the city were excavated (3rd century BC - 1st century AD). The great quantity of iron and bronze objects discovered, as well as the presence of a workshop for metals, suggests that the city was also a very important center for the internal trade towards south-eastern Arabia and the northern coast of Oman, which was rich in copper.





So this site is really famous for being a gathering spot for all the magicians and Jinn in the region. Every Thursday night they are said to gather and have lots of jinn that gather and the famous magicians practice black magic there. According to the students at the University, this still happens and if we wanted to come any Thursday night we could... (others disagree and say that is not true anymore).

Jinn are a fascinating subject here in Oman, because Omanis, as Muslims, have to believe in the Jinn (they are considered to be one of the creations of God, along with Angels and Man). We had a whole lecture on this -- the Jinn are made of a different substance, while man is made of earth, the Jinn are made of fire.

So, magicians are known to exist and be very powerful here in Oman (of course this depends on who you ask) and according to the Oman students here, they gain their power by controlling the Jinn, but according to one student, the magicians have to sacrifice something they love, and if they want to become truly powerful, they have to eat their own children.

One of the students I talked to actually told me a story about a man eating his child, while another told us the story when we were out in the Sahara of a man who married a Jinnia, and had 2 children with her. He said that someone wanted to come visit them, and he said he could come to his house and see them but whatever he does, he cannot say the name of God (Allah), but apparently when he entered the house, the Jinn and children were so bright and talking in some strange language...and they were so bright the man said, "Oh my God!"and the Jinia (wife) and kids disappeared instantly.

So of course most Omani's don't really believe these stories -- but they are widely known and passed around. That is what I find most interesting!

We're not in Kansas anymore...

So continuing the theme of Trip 2 -- I am going to post my last blog on our second excursion to the west. On the third day we visited the valleys and rivers that make this region so famous in the summertime. (As you all know by now, this is the Khareef season, which means that there is constant daily drizzle)

The rivers are incredibly green and beautiful and they make you think you are in Virginia in the summertime.


Here are just a few pictures of the rivers there (don't they look like Virginia??)




The mountains are so green and lush, aren't they?





Look at the color of this water here:



Now, I know you are asking, what is the difference between Oman and Virginia? Well....that would be the Saudi tourists (of course!)

Answer to Where's Al-Saratan?

Here you go! (Admire my technological prowess....)

Where's Al-Saratan?

This is the American-in-Oman take on the classic "Where's Waldo" game. Saratan = Crab (it also means cancer, both the disease and the astrological sign -- fascinating isn't it, since the crab is the sign of the sign?) Anyways...this picture is from our trip to the East -- the beaches were filled with seashells and sand crabs!

Find the crab in this picture! (I will post the answer in the next post!)

(It's a sand crab = white to blend in with the sand)

In thّe land of camels. (ٍِعلى ارض الجمال)

I thought I should give a little context into the camel here. The camel is ubiquitous in Oman and not just in the desert. As you see in these pictures, camels just roam free and they are not bothered at all by humans -- in fact, they like investigating our camp sites, coming close and (as the picture below shows) eating our leftovers!



Aren't camels cute animals? They just have very expressive faces I think.

Here in Oman, you will see camels everywhere when you drive between cities -- but don't think that these are wild camels -- according to our Omani friends, all camels in Oman are owned by families, and are marked by their owners to show who they belong too -- but they are left alone during the day to roam free for food. At night they return home to sleep -- according to our Omani friends there is no risk of camels being stolen though (as I thought there might be) because they are all marked, but more over, because they are not worth anything -- there are no real uses for camel's now except for the milk and meat, and those are not that valuable (since, again, camels are ubiquitous) and everyone now eats other forms of meat (beef and chicken) and drinks cows milk. So when I asked about whether the camels could be stolen, I was told that that wouldn't happen, because "what would someone do with a lot of camels?"


Cute nonetheless!

I have to admit that after posting this the first time, one of the students here at the University told me that camels are in fact worth thousands of dollars (though I think she may be mistaking your average roaming camel and specially bred racing camels, but I can't be sure, I really have no idea how much camels are worth!)

My Progress in Arabic!

I just had to give a presentation in my Arabic class, and I could tell how much my Arabic improved...I thought I would post it for the benefit of my Arabic-reading friends.

١) اليوم ساتحدث عن موضوع الذي ناقشناه قليلا الاسبوع الماضي، و هو انتشار اللغة الانجليزية عالميا و العلاقة بين اللغة و الاستعمارة/الغزو الثقافي

٢) اولا اريد ان اقدم اطارا تحليليا يستخدمه الباحثون في تحليل ظاهرة انتشاراستخدام لغات مختلفة نسبيا و تراجعها، وكما هو مستخدم كثيرا في تحليل و تطوير سياسيات اللغة في مجتمعات متعددة اللغات . هذه النظرية اسمها "تبيؤ اللغة" و هذه عبارة الترجمة الحرفية من الاعبارة الانجليزية
"Language Ecology"
و افهم ان هذا المصطلح خاص بهذا المجال، و من الممكن ان اغلبكم لم يسمعه من قبل

٣) نظرية "تبيؤ اللغة" هي استعارة من علوم الاحياء لشرح المناهج و الدوافع التي تشجع استخدام لغةً ما او تحول دون ذلك وهذه النظرية تتضم ثلاث افكار رائسي -- اولا انّ كل لغة تعيش و تتطور في مجتمعها البيئيّ بين لغات اخرى و ثانيا انّ كل لغة تتفاعل مع مناخها السياسي،الاجتماعي، الثقافي، و الاقتصادي، و ثالثا انّ اي لغة يمكنها ان تصبح مهددةً لولم يكن هناك الدعم الكافي للغة بالمقارنة مع اللغات الاخرى في المجتمع البيئيّ و كما نعرف انّ اللغات غير المستخدمة ستموت في مرور الوقت
To take into consideration: اخذ الى عين الاعتبار

٤) و مع هذه الخلفية اريد ان اناقش انتشار اللغة الانجليزية و كيف نحلله في اطارنظرية تبيؤ اللغة هذا
ولكن اولا ساعطيكم احصاءات
• حاليا يوجد واحد من كل اربعة اشخاص يتكلم باللغة الانجليزية وبناءا على التنبؤات فانّ بعد عشرين سنة من المحتمل ان يصل عدد المتحدثين بالانجليزية الى الثلث من العالم
• احصاء آخر مهم هو انّ نسبة المتحدثين بالانجليزية الذين يتكلمون بها كلغة مكتسبة، و ليست كلغة ام حاليا هم اكثر باربع مرات منهم الذين يتكلمون بالانجليزية كلغة ام

٥) ممكن ان يكون اول سؤال: لماذا تنتشر اللغة الانجليزية بهذه السرعة و الى هذه الدرجة ؟ وربما نتساءل ايضا عن لماذا الانجليزية و ليست لغة اخرى التي قد اصبحت واسع النطاق الى هذا الحد والتي لديها نفوذا عالميا؟ و كثيرا ما تركز المناقشة على هذا السؤال: هل انتشار الانجليزية ايجابي ام سلبي؟

و كل هذه اسألة مهمة و لكن قبل ان نناقشها، اريد ان اناقش كيف يحلل الباحثون انتشار اللغة الانجليزية ضمن اطارنظرية تيئؤ اللغة
٦) كما نعرف كلنا انّ اللغة الانجليزية ليست لغة اصلية في اغلب مجتمعات العالم -- بل هي لغة اجنبية (دخيلة) علما بانّ دخول اللغة الانجليزية الى بلدان اخرى كان اما بواسطة استعمار اقتصادي و اجتماعي ماضي او بواسطة التجارة و تلبية احتياجات التجارة حاليا في عصر سيادة الراسمالية الذي نعيشه -- و كثير من الباحثون يشبهون اللغة الانجليزية بصنف النباتات الطفيلية الذي يتفشى و يأثر على النباتات الاصلية بشكل سلبي، و احيانا يذهبون الى القول بان اللغة الانجليزية مثل فيروس يغزو مناخ اللغة الطبيعية و يسيطر عليه -- وهي تسبب تجاهل و اهمال للغات الاصلية

٧) و المناقشة تدور حول السؤال التالي: الى اي مدى سيصل امتداد اللغة الانجليزية ؟ و هل اللغة الانجليزية تهدد اللغات و الثقافيات الاصلية في الحقيقة ام على عكس، هل يوجد دورا معينا لكل لغة (اولهجة) في المجتمع لا يمكن استبدَالها، و اذا كانت لها دور، اذن لا يمكن و لن يمكن للغة الانجليزية ان تستبدل بهذه اللغات الاصلية.

٨) مشكلة النظرية: في اطار نظرية تبيؤ اللغات، يعتبر انتشار و تراجع استخدام اللغات كظاهرة طبيعية (او عضوية) مجردة -- ولكن في الواقعي لا يمكننا ان نقسم بين اللغة و الناس الذين يتكلمون بها، و اذن لا يمكننا ان نفصل انتشار الانجليزية عن احتياجات و مصالح الحكومة ، و الشركات و المترسملون -- ممكن الغة بذاتها بريئة -- ولكن هي جزء لا يتجزأ من العولمة و كل التأثيرات السلبية التي ترافقها -- كاتساع الفجوة بين الاغنياء و الفقراء و موت اللغات المحلية و انتشار الشركات العملاقة متعددة الجنسيات